I turned around to hear the voice that spoke. Standing in the doorway was a woman, probably in her mid twenties, her blonde hair was tied back in a loose ponytail that shimmered under the fluorescent lights. She was strikingly pretty, with sharp blue eyes that locked onto me like a laser. She wore a simple apron over a casual outfit, and in her hands, she held a tray laden with dishes, steam rising gently from the food. Despite her beauty, the stern set of her jaw told me she wasn't exactly thrilled to see me, but who could blame her? I wasn't exactly thrilled to be here either.
'Digitage, she's looking at me. What should I do?' I thought, trying to speak to Digitage without using my words, hoping he'd hear me.
[You're on own here. I have no clue on how to get out of this.]
"I.. uh… It's a beautiful weather we're having isn't it?"
"What are you doing here?" The lady asked again before looking around to see the food I devoured. "Do you know how long it took me to prepare those? Oh you're definitely paying for all these."
"How do you pay for stuff here?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"You pay with money and what you just consumed, cost a lot. You ate our VIP dishes and you didn't even give them the respect by eating them slowly. For that I'm going to charge you extra." The lady said, with a stern look.
'Digitage, do we have money on us?'
[Look in your pockets, what do you see?]
'Nothing'
[There, you have your answer.]
"I don't have any money on me."
"You what?! My dad is going to kill me if he finds out about this." She said as she tossed me a mop. "Since you can't pay with money, you'll pay with hard labour."
I sighed as I started mopping. 'Back on Xenon we had to scavenge for food, eating anything we find no matter where it was. Digitage, why didn't you tell me that in this planet, you get punished for eating the first food you find?'
[I wanted to surprise you.]
A few minutes after the lady left, she came back with a man, he was slightly taller than her. He had brown eyes and black hair. He looked like he could be her brother.
"This man is going to watch you and make sure you don't run out on us. You're going to do all the cleaning and washing today." She said, referring to me before leaving us. He rested on the wall and started staring at a very tiny box in his hands. The tiny box started to sing and that startled me.
'Digitage, what sorcery is that?'
[That's called a cellphone.]
'What's it used for?'
[Many things.]
'Can you tell me one?'
[I would if I remembered.]
'You're no help.' I said. Suddenly, I noticed that the man kept here to watch me was doing a terrible job because he wasn't in fact, watching me at all. So I decided to run off. I walked slowly until I was out the back door I walked in with. At the time that I got out, the sky was already dark. I must've arrived on this planet mid day. As I was proceeding to escape, I saw the lady that made me clean sitting on the fence, staring at the other side.
'What's she doing?'
[She must be thinking. You should try it some time.]
'She looks sad. What's wrong with her?'
[There's only one way to find out.]
'I would still be able to escape if I met her first before leaving right?'
[The possibility is close to zero but I guess it's worth a try. We could use that to better understand these species.]
I sighed and walked over to her. The moment I started climbing on the fence, she flinched but soon calmed down as I sat down.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "You were able to get out of the kitchen so I'm pretty sure you can get far away from here if you wanted to so why are you still here?"
"You look sad so I decided to stop by and overthink with you. Not like that'll help in any way."
"What makes you think I'm sad? I'm happy that I get to do everything around my father's restaurant without any assistance. I'm happy that I do everything for my dad but the moment I ask him for something, he says no. I'm happy that my boyfriend got married to my best friend and left the country not long ago. I'm not sad. I'm ecstatic."
"You say you're happy but your expression while saying you're happy is not happy. Is that how expressions work in this planet?"
She chuckled, "You're silly."
"See, this is what happy looks like." I said, pointing to her face. "You should smile more. Your smile is like when the bright suns of Jupiter and the twin suns of Xenon came together and had a baby."
"What?" She laughed louder this time confusing me further, I was being literal and she was laughing. These people are weird.
"Where are you from?"
"Umm… pretty far away. As far away as another planet."
"Yeah, sure." She chuckled, obviously not believing me. "How long will you be in town for?"
"Until I get fuel for my spaceship so I can fly away."
She laughed even harder this time puzzling me further. I was being honest and she thought it was a joke. I guess women being confusing is an attribute that they all possessed regardless of which specie they were.
"So you'll be here for a long time then." She said.
"Yeah I suppose."
"Would you like to work at the restaurant? It should be cool having you around."
[Say yes.]
'Why? I hate work.'
[Without a job, you'll have no means of getting food or housing. Putting those variables into consideration, your chances of survival without a job is less than 30%. I'm here to help you adapt, right? This is the way to adapt.]
"Yeah sure. It should be fun." I replied to her and watched her face light up.
"Nice. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." She said as she jumped off the fence. "I'm Ivy by the way."
I jumped down after her and shook her extended hand.
"Zach."